Project LeaderBrock Daniel BiermanJewishGen Liaison/AdvisorAvraham GrollProject SynopsisThe objective of the Soroca, Moldova Records Project is to acquire legible images of birth, marriage, death, cemetery and other records of Jewish families from Soroca, District (Raion) Moldova. Please see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soroca_DistrictThis project will provide a vehicle for donations (tax deductible for US residents) towards the photographing of records, and donating the images to JewishGen for inclusion in their databases.Records we will focus on include:

All Jewish Cemeteries in the Soroca District (Raion) of the Republic of Moldova

Soroca Regional and Local Archives

The records will be photographed at the archives as we are able to raise the funds. It is our intention to get birth marriage and death records for at least 1865 through 1895. These records are mixed records - both Jewish and non-Jewish. It is estimated that only 10% of the birth, marriage and death records are for Jewish people. We will be getting only the Jewish records.Key AudiencesThis project will allow Bessarabia family history researchers to create or fill gaps in their family trees and learn something about their families' Jewish heritage. Where vital records and/or burial records may no longer exist, cemeteries are often the only remaining evidence of a person's existence. The material has the potential to be of broader interest to scholars and educators specializing in Jewish history and the Holocaust and specifically in the history of Bessarabia.Project ImportanceThe JewishGen Online Worldwide Burial Registry (JOWBR) is a searchable database comprised of individual burial records, tombstone photographs and descriptions of individual cemeteries. This project will enrich the JOWBR database. Furthermore, Jewish cemeteries throughout Moldova are threatened with vandalism and even extinction, so photographing the tombstones is vitally important to preserve the information so future generations will benefit from this aspect of our cultural heritage. For many Jews, knowledge of their family history perished in the Holocaust and JOWBR is one of several JewishGen activities that can help families fill in the missing pieces of the puzzle.Project DescriptionA team will spend time in each of the designated cemeteries to obtain the best images and photograph them. Once completed, the images will be sent to the JOWBR coordinator for processing and subsequent addition to the JOWBR database.Estimated CostThe cost to obtain the images will vary, based length of trip, travel costs, translation, location, size and conditions of cemeteries, etc. To donate, please click here.

On May 28 I posted to this blog about the civil
liberties committee of the European Parliament meeting to discuss the latest
draft of Europe’s Data Protection Regulation and how it may affect access to
records and it also applies to organizations based outside the European Union
if they process personal data of EU residents.

In the June 17 edition of the New York Times there was an
article on the Association of French Archivists and the European Union’s
measures would grant Internet users a “right to be forgotten,” letting them
delete damaging references to themselves in search engines,appear to be in conflict. To try to soften
the EU’s position the Association of French Archivists started a petition which
currently has 50,000 names which they plan to present to the EU lawmakers.
However, there are many other suggestions for modification and the recent
disclosure of the US government’s PRISM program may effect what the EU does to
soften or not.To read the article go
to: http://tinyurl.com/lnneaen

It was recently reported that the Georgia Archives were
transferred to the Georgia University System and the funding for the Archives
was included in the state budget under the University system. The genealogical
community worked together to retain the Archives and increase the funding that
had originally been proposed. The Archives had suffered major staffing and
hours cutbacksover the past several
years and it was hoped that the transfer would be the positive solution to the
problem.It was announced today-June 14
by Georgia Archives Director Christopher Davidson, that the Archives will
be:hiring three additional
professionals; increasing part-time staff hours; opening to the public on
Wednesdays and Thursdays beginning July 31. Weekly hours will be Wednesdays-Saturdays,
8:30 a.m.-5 p.m.; increasing conservation and processing activities of the
Archives collections.To read more about
this positive turn of events go to: http://tinyurl.com/my8g269
.

At the recent National Public Health Statistics and
Information Systems (NAHPSIS) annual meeting held in Phoenix, AZ an associate
from the Records Preservation andAccess
Committee (RPAC) * representative for the Board for Certification of
Genealogists [BCG]and Co-Director for
Civil Records of the Massachusetts Genealogical Council , Barbara Mathews,
informed RPAC that the NAPHSIS members—vital records officers--do not count genealogists among their
stakeholders . What is most distressing is that several of the state vital
records officers ( state, countyrecords
clerks) stated what they could not get through legislation,i.e.,the extended embargo periods for birth records for 125 years, marriage,
annulment, divorce and death records 100 years, theyplanto do by regulation.Weneed to be vigilant and watch proposed
regulations coming out of each state as well as proposed legislation. The
proposed regulations may be from the state Vital Records Division or Department
of Health Services-varying by state. If you learn of any proposed regulations
that address access to birth, marriage, death and divorce records please let me
know.

* RPAC is a joint committee of Federation of Genealogical
Societies (FGS), The National Genealogical Society (NGS), and IAJGS as sponsoring
members. The Association of Professional Genealogists (APG), the Board for
Certification of Genealogists (BCG), International Commission for the
Accreditation of Professional Genealogists (ICAPGen), and the American Society
of Genealogists (ASG) also serve as participating members. By invitation, RPAC
also includes participation from a few commercial providers of genealogical
information. RPAC meets monthly to inform and advise the genealogical community
on ensuring proper access to vital records and on supporting strong records
preservation policies and practices at the federal, state, and occasionally the
local level.

Genealogists made a difference this year and working
together showed we can win these legislative initiatives that would adversely affect
our access to vital records, census and other genealogically relevant
materials. While not all state legislatures adjourned as of yet—some meet the
year round such as Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Ohio,
Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, or go nine months such as California many have
adjourned for the year while others will adjourn later this month or next
month.To check your state’s 2013adjournment date see:

For those states that had issues that IAJGS has been
following we have had some great successes due to the genealogical community’s
efforts.Here is a summary of some of
our successes:

Connecticut

HB 5733, HB 5421

The Connecticut Legislature adjourned on June 5(really 2AM on June 6) without taking action
on the two bills that would have effected an embargo on death records. HB 5733
which would impose a 100-year waiting period for death records or HB 5421 which
removes the genealogists exemption for immediate access and to the full death
record. IAJGS submitted a statement to the House of Representatives expressing
our concerns.

HB 6424 as previously reported to carry an amendment that
would have allowed victims' families to have the final say on whether photos,
videos, or audio "depicting the physical condition of any victim" can
be released to the public. This affects the press rather than
genealogists.In the end, this was not
the bill that this amendment.

SB 1146

This bill did carry the amendment and passed in the wee
hours of June 6 ---they “stopped the clock” so the legislature could finish
their work on this bill which amends the Connecticut Freedom of Information Act
. The bill passed and Governor Daniel P. Malloy signed the bill into law within
12 hours and it became effective upon signing by the governor.To read the passed amended version see: http://www.cga.ct.gov/2013/amd/S/2013SB-01149-R00SA-AMD.htm

GeorgiaHB 287

Legislation was enacted that transferred the archives to
the University System of GeorgiaHB 287
saving what had thought to be the demise of the archives. The archives had
already suffered through massive budget cuts resulting in being open only two
days a week with amuch reduced staff.
When Governor Deal also signed the budget bill allocating funding to the
University System for the Archives –a two-pronged legislative
approach—transferring authority and budgeting funds—the genealogical community
knew we had “won”. While funding is not back to the previous years’ levels it
is more than what had originally been budgeted for the two days a week with
limited staff.

OregonHB 2093

Oregon HB 2093 if passed as originally introduced would
have extended the current embargo period for birth records to 125 years and
marriage and death to 100 years- as proposed in the 2011 proposed Model Vital
Records Act.Due to the great efforts by
the genealogical community the bill was amended in the provision on the embargo
of vital records to retain the existing embargo wait periods: 100 years for
birth and 50 years for marriage and death., Other provisions not affecting
access to vital records included in the 2011 Model Vital Records Act were
adopted.The bill passed both
legislative chambers and as of the writing of this records access alert update,
the Governor’s office has yet to receive the bill—it is still awaiting the
signatures of the President of the Senate and Speaker of the House.It is expected that both signatures will be
forthcoming.To read the enrolled
version of thebill go to: http://landru.leg.state.or.us/13reg/measures/hb2000.dir/hb2093.en.htmlThe issue of interest to genealogists is on
page 42 section(7).

Texas HB 3252

Texas genealogists were successful in getting –HB 3252
–left pending in committee on April 3. This bill would have adopted some
ofthe 2011 Proposed Model Vital Records
Act and extended the embargo period for accessing records: birth records for
125 years and death records for 50 years. Current embargo periods are 75 years
for birth and 25 years for death records. The Texas Legislature adjourned sine
die on May 27 without further action-therefore the bill did not pass.

The Library and Archives Canada recently announced releases of updated and new versions and other previously not posted censuses on their website:

The Lower Canada 1825 census is now on line. Lower Canada is modern-day Quebec
and this census covers some 74,000 households. The 1825 census only contains
the names of heads of family, their occupation, and the number of residents for
each family. The database can be searched by family name, first name and
keywordTo search the census go to:

Previously, it was reported on this listserve that the
LAC had been the subject of severe budget cuts, and that the LAC president
Daniel Caron resigned last month.It has
been reported that Heritage Minister James Moore will ask for consideration for
restoring the National Archival Development Program, a program eliminated
during recent federal budget cuts that helped hundreds of small museums across
the country preserve local history. Hervé Déry is Acting Librarian and Archivist
of Canada until Heritage Minister Moore appoints a new chief of the LAC.To read the article go to: http://tinyurl.com/l736uja Original
url:http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2013/06/10/heritage-minister-conside_n_3414200.html

Thank you to Dick Eastman and the Eastman Online
Genealogy Newsletter for informing us about the possible LAC funding
restoration.

Library and Archives Canada[LAC] posted to their website on June 4 that
in a few weeks the 1921 Census will be available to researchers.The census was taken on June 1, 1921 and
covered 8.8 million people. Information for the census was collected on the
following five subjects: population; agriculture; animals, animal products,
fruits not on farms; manufacturing and trading establishments. There were 35 questions.
There is a 92-year privacy requirement in Canada.To read their press piece go to: http://tinyurl.com/jw2xy82